JP2006246151A - Software radio set - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a software radio set capable of communicating with a plurality of communication systems while suppressing the increase of memory size. <P>SOLUTION: Programs are separated into programs for the stand-by state of the software radio set and programs for the operating state of the software radio set, the programs for the stand-by state are developed in a main memory and a plurality of communication systems can be processed by a single resource. The programs for the operating state are constituted so as to respectively store processing programs for the plurality of communication systems in a program memory and read in the processing program corresponding to the communication system received in the stand-by state to the main memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio that performs communication corresponding to one or more frequencies and one or more communication systems and a configuration method thereof, and more particularly, to a software defined radio configured by software.

  In the case of a general wireless communication device, it is assumed that it corresponds to a single communication system defined in advance. Therefore, in the case of a communication device corresponding to a plurality of different frequencies and a plurality of communication systems, it is usually manufactured as a multi-mode radio configuration in which each corresponding communication system includes a plurality of systems corresponding to one-to-one hardware. The In this case, each system operates independently or in conjunction with each other. However, it is difficult to change the corresponding frequency / communication system at the user's stage after manufacture, and the user's usability is limited.

  On the other hand, a radio whose operation is controlled by software defines the sequence, communication function, and other functions required for communication by software, and changes to a different frequency / communication system even after manufacturing by switching the software. Is possible.

"Basics and Applications of Software Defined Radio", Issued by Knowledge Service Division, Sipec Corporation, pages 40-45, October 2002

  The conventional software defined radio as described above still has the following problems.

  1) Resource limitation due to the size of the software itself: Since the communication system can be updated by software, it is a software defined radio that can handle a wide variety of communication systems at the user stage. Hardware resources are finite, as is the case with hardware multi-mode radios, and software of a large size that exceeds the capacity of installed memory at the time of manufacture cannot be implemented.

  2) Resource limitation by stacking multiple software: One of the advantages of software defined radios is that multiple communication systems can be operated with a single piece of hardware. However, as the number of systems to be supported increases, the software size increases accordingly. In addition, while operating a certain communication system, software related to other communication systems is not used, and thus an unnecessary memory size is consumed.

  3) Limitation of switching time: There is also a method of placing software that is not used for external media and switching to the corresponding software when switching to a new communication system, but with this method, some form of software is loaded from the outside at the time of switching Therefore, a switching time for loading is required for each switching.

  4) Resource limitation due to multi-banding: When performing so-called multi-band support that waits for multiple communication systems at the same time, it is necessary to implement all functions simultaneously for all communication systems, which also consumes memory size. To do.

  As described above, the conventional method cannot avoid increasing the memory size in order to increase the communication system. Therefore, in the present invention, a single software defined radio is used while suppressing the increase in the memory size. An object of the present invention is to provide a software defined radio capable of supporting a plurality of communication systems.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, for a communication system to be supported by a software defined radio, a function realized by software is changed to a standby operation state defined for each communication system including standby. Separated into standby software module, which is a required sequence / communication function / other necessary functional parts, and main software module, which is a sequence / communication function / all other functional parts required for actual communication To do. As a result, in the standby operation state, only the standby software module needs to be expanded in the main memory, and the software size can be reduced as compared with the case where all functions are implemented. Even when supporting a plurality of communication systems, the memory size required for standby operation can be reduced.

  That is, in order to realize the above, in claim 1 of the present invention, a request is made at the time of standby operation in a software defined radio capable of adding / changing wireless communication sequences / communication functions / other functions necessary for communication by software. It defines a software defined radio in which one or more standby software modules and one or more main software modules required other than during standby operation are separately mounted. Here, the standby software module refers to the software group corresponding to the sequence, communication function, and other necessary functional parts required in the standby operation state, and the main software module is required for actual communication. The software group corresponding to the sequence, communication function, and other necessary functional parts.

  According to claim 2, in the software defined radio according to claim 1, the standby software module realizes a sequence, a communication function, and other functions required for communication required for standby operation corresponding to a plurality of communication systems. It stipulates software defined radios that implement software modules.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the software defined radio according to the second aspect, the software defined radio in which the main software module is mounted for each of the plurality of communication systems is defined.

  4. The software defined radio according to claim 3, wherein the standby software module requests a function other than the function executed by the standby software module with respect to any of the plurality of communication systems during standby operation. It defines the software defined radio that has the function of monitoring the transition to the state.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the software defined radio according to the fourth aspect, the transition is a trigger, a main software module of a communication system indicated by the trigger that has caused the transition is selected and loaded, and the software module performs wireless communication. It defines the software defined radio that reconfigures the radio.

  According to the present invention, while a memory and other resources are limited, a single software defined radio can be used and a plurality of communication systems can be simultaneously set in a standby state.

  In the present invention, a wireless communication sequence, a communication function, and other functions required for communication can be added / changed by software, and a function realized by software is required in a standby operation state including standby. The standby software module corresponding to the sequence / communication function / other necessary functional parts is separated from the main software module corresponding to the sequence / communication function / other necessary functional parts necessary for actual communication. Based on configuration. As a result, when the wireless device is operated, only the software modules necessary for each function are transferred to the main memory and used, thereby enabling the main memory to be used effectively. Therefore, a software defined radio is basically composed of a software module composed of standby software modules corresponding to a plurality of communication systems and one or more main software modules respectively corresponding to communication systems that can support the software modules. Is done.

  Here, the definition of the standby operation state differs depending on each communication system. For example, in the case of an RF tag reader, it can be defined that the RF tag is being searched. On the other hand, in the case of a mobile phone, it can be defined as a state in which information from a base station is monitored while waiting for an incoming call. The classification of these standby operation states and other states is one example, and different classifications are possible. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1A shows an example of a standby operation process flow in the case of an RF tag reader. The RF tag reader in the standby state A1 transmits (A2) a regular beacon at a predetermined time T1 measured by a timer in order to search for an RF tag if an RF tag exists. The RF tag reader verifies whether there is a response from the RF tag to the transmitted beacon (A3), and recognizes the presence of the RF tag (A3; Yes), transitions from the standby state to the operational state (A4). . If the response from the RF tag cannot be confirmed (A3; No), the standby state (A1) is entered again.

  FIG. 1B shows an example of a processing flow for a standby operation state in the case of a mobile phone. The mobile phone in the standby state 1 (B1) periodically receives (B2) a beacon notified from the base station at every fixed time T2 measured by the timer. If there is no beacon (B2; No), the process returns to the standby state 1 (B1). When the beacon is confirmed (B2; Yes), the terminal information is transmitted to the base station (B3). The success or failure of the transmission is verified (B4), and when the transmission is completed, the state transits to the standby state 2 (B8). If not completed (B4; No), a predetermined number N of retransmissions are performed. It is determined whether the number of trials exceeds N (B5). If it exceeds (B5; Yes), the process returns to the standby state 1 (B1). The mobile phone in the standby state 2 (B8) determines whether there is an incoming call from the base station (B6). If there is no incoming call, this operation is repeated. Transition.

Hereinafter, software required in the standby operation state as described above will be referred to as “Initia 1 Program”, and other software required in the normal operation state will be referred to as “Main Program”. The Initial Program can be said to be a standby software module group corresponding to a plurality of communication systems.
Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described using examples. 2 to 4 are examples, and the realizing means and the realizing method are not limited to this form.
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the communication systems A to C3 as an example. Even if there are four or more types, the operating principle does not change at all. FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an outline of the operation between the RF tag 21 and the tag reader 20 configured by a software defined radio as a specific example. FIG. 4 shows the advantage of the memory usage example in the present invention over the conventional memory usage example for the three types of communication systems A, B, and C as in FIG. is there.

  In FIG. 2, the software defined radio 10 is a radio corresponding to the communication systems A, B, and C. The software defined radio 10 includes a baseband processing unit 16 and an RF unit 17. Here, although the RF unit 17 is illustrated as being compatible with multi-band, a system having a plurality of single-band RF units does not affect the effects of the present invention.

  The Initia1 program 14 configured by standby software modules corresponding to each communication system is expanded in the main memory 12 in the processor 11. In addition to this, there is a program memory 13 for storing programs, and main programs A, B, and C (13a to 13c) constituting main software modules corresponding to the communication systems A, B, and C are respectively communication systems. Stored every time. In the present invention, the Main Program defines the operation of each communication system other than during standby operation. Since this software is not always executed, there is no need to always develop it in the main memory, and it is stored for each communication system in the program memory 13 separate from the main memory. Therefore, the main memory can be effectively used.

  That is, the Initia 1 Program is adapted to a plurality of communication systems, and a software module that implements a sequence, a communication function, and other necessary functions required in a standby operation state corresponding to the plurality of communication systems is installed. As a result, it is not necessary to simultaneously deploy the entire software module for a plurality of communication systems on the memory as in the prior art. In addition, since it is possible to wait for a plurality of communication systems at the same time, there is an effect of improving user convenience.

  In the present invention, standby operation is performed for each communication system realized by the Initia1 Program. At this time, whether or not a trigger for transitioning to a state requiring a function other than the function executed by the standby software module has been received for any one of the plurality of communication systems in standby operation by the standby software module is monitored by the Initia1 Program I do.

  If the above state transition is detected as a result of monitoring, this state transition is used as a trigger, the main software module of the communication system indicated by this trigger is selected, expanded in the main memory, and the wireless software is transmitted by this main software module. Reconfigure.

  The control unit 15 expands any one of the main programs (13a to 13c) in the main memory 12 based on the monitoring result in the standby operation state by the Initia1 program 14, returns it to the Initia1 program 14 after the processing, and the like. And the development control of the program between the main memory 12 and the main memory 12.

Here, if a wireless signal corresponding to the communication system A radiated by the communication partner 18 is received from the outside, the Initia 1 Program 14 transmits to the control unit 15 that the signal of the communication system A has been received. The control unit 15 expands the main program 13a corresponding to the communication system A from the program memory 13 to the main memory 12 by using the received message received from the Initia 1 program 14 as a trigger, reconfigures the software defined radio 10 to the communication state, and communicates with the communication partner 18. Continue communication with.
Next, details of the temporal operation will be described with reference to FIG. The tag reader 20 is assumed to support a plurality of tag reader standards (corresponding to communication systems). In the standby operation state, the tag reader 20 repeatedly transmits the Wake Up message S1 of the implemented standard, thereby monitoring a trigger that makes a transition from the standby operation state to another state. If a certain RF tag 21 returns a response message S2 to the tag reader side at time T2 in response to the Wake Up message transmitted at time T1, the tag reader side receives the message at time T2 and the Initia1 Program 14 The reception notification message S3 is transmitted as a trigger for calling the corresponding communication system. The control unit 15 that has received the reception notification message S3 expands a program (main software module) corresponding to the communication system that has received any of the main programs (13a to 13c) from the program memory 13 to the main memory 12 in the processor 11. Then, the Main Program is mounted on the main memory (arrow K). The tag reader 20 is reconfigured by the developed program. The tag reader 20 that has been reconfigured returns a Rep1y message S4 to the RF tag 21 as a response to the Response message S2.
In this way, when the trigger is received, the Main Program defined for the corresponding communication system is called and expanded on the memory, and the radio is reconfigured. Thereby, simultaneous standby of a plurality of different communication systems and effective use of the memory can be made compatible. At this time, the time Tr from when the Response message S2 is transmitted until the Rep1y message S4 is returned depends on the standard of each tag reader.
Next, the effect of reducing the program size according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in the conventional memory usage example, all the software of the corresponding communication system has been developed in the main memory 12 until now. However, there is a part that is not used by each software in the standby state. Therefore, as in the use example of the memory according to the present invention, only the software part necessary for the standby state is extracted from the software of each communication system and is expanded in the main memory 12 as the Initia Program 14. At this time, the Initia1 Program 14 can compress the program size rather than deploying all the software of each communication system. Further, when the reception notification message S3 is notified from the Initia1 program 14 shown in FIG. 3 to the control unit 15, any one of the main programs (13a-13c) of the corresponding communication system from the program memory 13 to the main memory 12 is the main. Expanded to the memory 12. Since only one of the optimum programs is expanded, the main memory 12 can be effectively used as compared with the conventional method of using the memory in which the software for all communication systems is expanded. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to cope with a plurality of communication systems while effectively using the main memory 12.

The processing flow figure of the standby state in a communication system, (a) The processing flow figure of the standby state of RF tag reader, (b) The processing flow figure of the standby state of a mobile telephone. The block diagram which shows the structure of a software defined radio. The timing diagram of tag reader operation. The memory use allocation figure in the past and this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10: software defined radio 11: processor 12: main memory 13: program memory 14: initial program
15: Control unit 16: Baseband processing unit 17: RF unit 18: Communication partner 20: Tag reader 21: Tag

Claims (5)

Software radios that can add / change wireless communication sequences / communication functions / other functions required for communication by software.
One or more standby software modules required during standby operation;
A software defined radio having one or more main software modules that are required at times other than standby operation. The software defined radio according to claim 1,
A software defined radio equipped with a software module that implements a sequence, a communication function, and other functions required for communication that are required for standby operation corresponding to a plurality of communication systems using the standby software module . The software defined radio according to claim 2,
A software defined radio having the main software module mounted for each of the plurality of communication systems.   4. The software defined radio according to claim 3, wherein the standby software module makes a transition to a state requesting a function other than the function executed by the standby software module with respect to any of the plurality of communication systems during standby operation. Software defined radio characterized by monitoring.   5. The software defined radio according to claim 4, wherein the transition is a trigger, a main software module of a communication system indicated by the trigger that has caused the transition is selected and loaded, and the radio is reconfigured by the software module. A software defined radio.

Images